WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota volleyball team entered Friday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference match against Saint Benedict perfect in three conference matches.
So were the Blazers.
In other words, something had to give—one way or another, a conference-opening winning streak was going to come to an end
And, unfortunately for coach
Mike Lester, it was his Cardinals'.
Saint Benedict outlasted Saint Mary's 15-13 in the fifth and final set—scoring five of the final six points—in handing the Cardinals a 3-2 setback at the Saint Mary's Gym.
"That was a tough, tough match," said Lester. "We came out pretty slow, but really came to life in the third and fourth sets. And at 12-10 (in the fifth), I thought we were in a pretty good position."
Saint Benedict raced out to a 2-0 lead, winning the first two sets, 26-24 and 25-22—and led 11-10 in the third, before the Cardinals came to life.
In a big, big way.
Saint Mary's outscored the Blazers 15-6 to claim the third set, 25-17, and were even more impressive in knotting the match up with a 25-13 win in the fourth set.
In a see-saw fifth set, the Cardinals appeared to be in control, leading 12-10, only to have Saint Benedict rattle off five of the final six points of the match to ice the victory.
Sara Lind (Peterson, Minn.) recorded a career-high 15 kills, while
Alex Peterson (Harmony, Minn.) and
Molly Urban (Roseville, Minn.) each recorded 14 kills and
Macki Fadness (Eau Claire, Wis.) finished with 13 for the Cardinals.
Brittney Hanson (Janesville, Iowa) dished out a season-best 31 assists, with
Tayler MacVey (Dodge Center, Minn.) chipping in 29.
Lex Krogstad (Chicago, Ill.) notched a team-best 23 digs to pace four Cardinal players with 10 or more digs. MacVey added 17 digs for her fifth double-double of the season, with
Jenna Sullivan (Woodbury, Minn.) and
Morgan Thomas (Palos Park, Ill.) tallying 14 and 10 digs, respectively.
Laura Schmitt finished with a team-best 15 kills and Megan Pekarek added 51 assists for the Blazers (4-0 MIAC, 11-4 overall).
The Cardinals (3-1 MIAC, 14-3 overall) are right back in action on Saturday, hosting Concordia in a 3 p.m. conference match at the Saint Mary's Gym.
